Electrically operated clock



Aug. 15, 1939 1 T, c. ADAMS 2,159,203

LECTRIGALLY OPERATED CLOCK Filed May 26, 1937 Sheets-Sheet 1 [12 j U S/y ,/n nu gf@ 0 6; l a

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ELECTRICALLY OPERATED CLOCK Filed May 26, 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 15, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRICALLY OPERATED CLOCK Application May 26, 1937, Serial No. 144,851

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a clock of the electrically operated type, and while the clock is suitable for various uses it particularly is designed for use as a public or street clock where a large dial is used.

Public clocks such as those used in high towers, on the side of buildings, and similar places usually require dials of large area. If hands are used on such a clock the hands must be of large size and the same are thus quite heavy. It takes considerable mechanism of great strength and heavy structure to move such hands. If the hands are exposed on the face of the clock they are apt to be torn loose or damaged by wind storms.

It is an object of this invention to provide a clock in which a dial of large area can be used and with which no hands need be used. Lamps are provided to indicate the hours and minutes and these are illuminated so that the clock will indicate the time and will do so in all kinds of Weather.

It is another object of the invention to provide an electrically operated clock in which :a large dial can be used, said dial having spaced lamps thereon constituting minute indicators, said lamps preferably being in the form of neon tubes, other spaced lamps being provided for hour indicators together with means for successively illuminating said lamps to indicate the time.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a clock having a dial of large area with lamps circumferentially spaced about an outline thereon constituting minute indicators and other lamps circumferentially spaced about said outline constituting hour indicators, means for successively illuminating said hour indicators at hour intervals and maintaining each one illurninated for one hour, means for illuminating the first one of said minute indicators after the even hour and maintaining the same illuminated until the end of the hour together with means for successively illuminating the other minute indicators at minute intervals and maintaining the same illuminated for the remainder of the hour.

It is still another object of the invention to pro vide such an electrically operated clock as above indicated, the same having a large dial with lamps thereon for indicating the hours and minutes, said clock comprising a control mechanism for illuminating the lamps, which control mechanism may be of comparatively small size and located at a distance from said dial.

Ihese and other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully set forth in the Vfollowing description made in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a. dial of the clock;

Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation as seen from the left end of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is `a horizontal section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2 as indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3 as indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3 as indicated by the arrows; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. l showing a mcdication.

Referring to the drawings, in Fig. l a dial of the clock is shown which may be formed on a large rectangular frame or panel I0. Frame ID carries a plate II on which are mounted a plurality of lamps I2. While these lamps may take various forms preferably and in the embodiment of the invention illustrated they are formed of neon lamp tubes such as now in common use in public signs. Lamps I2 are circumferentially spaced about an outline or figure on plate II and are disposed in lines extending outwardly from substantially the center of said outline or iigure. Lamps I2 are shown as substantially equally spaced and there will be sixty of these lamps. Lamps I2 constitute minute indicators. Each of the lamps I2 will have extending to and connected thereto a pair of conductors I3 which will be connected respectively to switches, to be later described. Other lamps I4 are provided and these are circumferentially spaced about said outline or figure, and will constitute hour indicators. There will be twelve of the lamps I4 and while they preferably are also disposed in lines extending outwardly from substantially the center of said outline or figure they will preferably be at a different distance from said center than the lamps I2. Lamps I4 have extending thereto and connected thereto a pair of conductors I5 which will also be connected to suitable switches to be later described. Numerals I6 may be used to designate the lamps which indicate the hours from one to twelve and these lamps and lamps I4 are at opposite ends of the lamps I2 and in alinement with certain ones thereof. These numerals will preferably be in the form of lamps such as neon tubes and when used they will be connected in series with the lamps I4 by conductors I5. A series of switches I7 are provided each being in the form of an annulus said switches I'I comprising narrow casings and are oscillatably mounted on a rod I8, the ends of which are secured in brackets I9 projecting from the sides 29a, of a control casing 26. Casings I'I are shown as having openings thereinto closed by small threaded plugs 2l. Each of said -casings ll has extending thereinto electrodes 22' and 23. These electrodes project at the outer side of casing Il. Electrode 22 is connected to one of the conductors I3 and .as shown in Fig. 4, this conductor extends to the lamp I2. The other conductor I3 extends from lamp I2 and is connected to a line conductor I3a. Another line conductor I 3b is connected to electrode 23. As shown in Fig. 5 electrode 2`2 is connected to a conductor I5 which extends to the lamp I6 in the form of numeral I2. Another conductor I5 extends from said lamp to a line conductor I5a. Another line conductor I5b is connected to electrode 23. The casing I I is made of some non-conducting material and will contain a, quantity of liquid conductor 24 such as mercury. When the switch is in the position shown in Fig. 5 the electrodes are connected by the mercury 24 and the switch is in closed position. When the switch is in the position shown in Fig.V 4 one of the electrodes is withdrawn from the mercury and is not electrically connected to the other electrode so that the switch is open. VEach of the casings I'I has projecting therefrom a pair of spaced lugs I'Ia between which is disposed the end of a lever 25. Lever 25 has a slot 25a therethrough through which passes a pin 26 extending between and secured in lugs I'Ia. The levers 25 are fulcrumed on a rod 2l the ends of which are carried in brackets 28 supported in the ends 29h of casing 29. The other end of each lever 25 is formed with a depending tooth vor hook 25h having a pointed or pawl-like end. The ends 25D of the levers 25 controlling the switches for conductors I3 are adapted to cooperate with cams 29 formed on a cylinder 39. Cylinder 39 is mounted on a shaft 3I journaled in bearings 32 dis-posed in the ends 29h of casing 29. Said cylinder has secured to one end thereof a ratchet wheel 33. Ratchet wheel 33 has sixty teeth and is engaged by a pawl 34 pivoted at itsupper end by pivot 35 to a lever 36, in turn pivoted on a pivot 37 disposed in lugs 29e at one side of casing 20. A tensile spring 38 has one end connected to pawl 34 and its other end connected to lever 36. A stop pawl 33a is secured to one side of casing 29 and engages ratchet wheel 33 at the side opposite that engaged by pawl 34. Lever 36 is shown as having a stop arm 36a arranged to engage an adjustable stop screw 39 extending through one side of casing 26, threaded therein and equipped with a lock nut 49. Lever 36 is shown as having a weight 4I at one end and also carries an armature plate 42l disposed in alignment with an electro-magnet 43. Electromagnet 43 has conductors 44 and 45 extending from the ends of its winding, conductor 45 being connected to a line conductor 45a. The other line conductor 45h will be connected to a conductor 45C extending to and connected to a contact member 46 secured to a bracket 4l which is in turn secured to the top of casing 29. Conductor 44 extends to a binding post 48 carried on a resilient conductor strip 49, one end of which is secured by screws 59 to a downwardly extending portion of bracket 4l. Member 49 has a terminal contact 49a which is periodically moved into engagement with contact 46 by a rotating cam 5I having a raised portion or tooth 5Ia. adapted to engage member 49 once in each revolution of said cam. Cam 5I is carried on a shaft 52' and this will be driven so as to make one revolution each minute. Said shaft will preferably be driven from a synchronous motor such as now commonly used in domestic electric clocks and which are governed by a sixty cycle phase current. From the described construction it will be seen that a circuit through electromagnet 43 will be closed for a very brief instant once every minute. Lever 36 will be raised by armature 42 being attracted and drawn against the poles 43a of said electromagnet. 'I'he current is quickly broken and magnet 43 deenergized so that lever 36 drops quickly. This dropping movement is accentuated by the weight 4I. Each tie lever 36 drops pawl 34 rotates ratchet wheel 33 and cylinder 39 the distance of one tooth or onesixtieth of a revolution. Each time cylinder 39 is thus rotated the en-d 25h of one lever- 25 rides up on to one of the cams 29. The camY 29 controlling the lamp I2 immediately to the-right of numeral 12 or the first minute indication after the even hour is substantially 360 degrees in extent. When lever 25 is thusrswung by this cam it closes its switch II and the switch will remain closed until substantially the end of the hour. The cam next in line is somewhat shorter and will, of course, be operated to move its lever one minute later. The cams are thus successively shorter and after they operate their respective lever to close their respective switch I'I they hold said switch in closed position until the end of the hour. Cylinder 39 has one portion of very small extent circumferentially extending .longitudinally thereof so that .all of the levers 25 will drop off of their cams simultaneously at this point and all of the switches governing lamp I2 will be opened. All of the lamps l2 at this instant will be extinguished and this occurs substantially at the even hour.

'Ihe levers 2'5 whichcontrol the lamps I4 and the numerals I6 cooperate with cams 54 carried on a cylinder 55. Cylinder 55 is mounted on a shaft 56 journaled in bearings 5l supported from casing 29. Shaft 56 has a gear 58 secured to one end thereof which meshes with and is driven by a gear 59. Gear 59 is carried on a shaft 69 journaled in a bearing 6I carried by a partition 29d of casing 29. A gear 62 is also secured to shaft 69 and is driven by and meshes with a gear 63 secured to one end of shaft 3|. The ratio of gears 63 and 62 will be one to three and of gears 59 and 58 the ratio will be one to four so that cylinder 55 is driven at one-twelfth the speed of cylinder 39. Cylinder 39 makes one revolution in one hour and cylinder 55 makes one revolution in twelve hours. Cams 54 are each substantially one-twelfth of the circumferential extent of cylinder 55 and the end of one cam is substantially in alignment of the beginning of the adjacent cam longitudinally of cylinder 55. Thus one of the switches Il controlling lamps I4 is closed at the beginning of each hour and remains closed for one hour. At the end of this hour the switch is opened and the next adjacent switch is closed.

In operation therefore, cylinder 39 will be rotated one-sixtieth of a revolution every minute and lamps I4 will be successively illuminated each minute. supposing that it is one oclock; lamp I4 will be illuminated by its switch II, which switch will be moved to closed position by its lever 25, which lever is swung by engaging `one of the cams 54. If the numerals I6 are used then the numeral one will be illuminated with its lamp I4. Just at one oclock cylinder 39 will be in position so that all of the levers 25 Will drop off of their cams 29, Levers 25 will be under bias to move off of the cams and this will be accomplished by springs or other means not shown. At one minute past one the lamp I?. at the right of the numeral 12 on the dial will be illuminated by its switch being operated by its lever 25 being moved by the longest cam 25. Said first lamp I2 therefore after the even hour is not only illuminated one minute after the even hour, but it will remain illuminated until substantially the end of the hour, or substantially at two oclock. This is also true of the succeeding lamps I2 as they are illuminated. Thus at twenty-live minutes past one the lamp or tube I4 and nume-ral one would be illuminated and all of the tubes I2 down to and including the one adjacent the hour numeral iive would be illuminated. It is thus quite easy to tell the time at a glance. As soon as one of the hour tubes I4 is extinguished the other one is illuminated. As above stated, all of the minute tubes I2 are extinguished just at approximately the even hour and the said tubes then commence their illumination at the right of the hour numeral 12 and continue in an illuminated state around the dial. 'Ihe cylinders 30 and 55 are moved very quickly through each small part of a revolution by pawl 34. Lever 36 drops very quickly so that the levers 25 are quickly operated as are the switches I 7. The switches I'I are very -durable and give no trouble from sparking.

In Fig. 6 a dial is shown of triangular form. The lamps 'ID indicating the minutes are shown about the dial in spaced relation and the lamps or tubes 1l forming the hour indicators are also shown. The numerals 'I2 ranging from one to twelve are shown indicating the hours and these will preferably be wired in series with the tubes 7l. The connections and operation of the dial shown in Fig. 6 will be the same as those already described for the dial shown in Fig. 1.

From the above description it is seen that applicant has provided a very simple and eilicient structure of clock which is particularly adapted for use in places where a large dial is necessary. There are no large and heavy hands to be moved and there is nothing on the dial which can be damaged by the Wind. The control mechanism in the casing 2U can be of small size and located in the building or in any convenient place which may be quite a distance from the dial. There are no spaced or circumferentially arranged contacts over which a brush must move for illuminating the parts of the dial. There will thus be no diiculty from sparking of contacts. There will be, of course, a suitable source of current in the circuits including switches I'I and conductors I3 and I5.

There are no moving parts on the dial and it is obvious that the clock will operate in all kinds of weather. It will not be afTected or stopped by extreme cold weather. One great objection to outside clocks has been that they usually stop when the weather gets Very cold. The present clock can be operated just as well as in the coldest weather as in warm weather. The clock Will also be very accurate as a time piece and its accuracy will not be affected by the weather. It is obvious that the device will have a high degree of utility for the purpose intended.

It will of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts, Without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which generally stated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects above set forth in the parts and combinations of parts disclosed and dened in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A clock for public use having in combination, a dial of large area, members constituting minute indicators spaced about a certain disposed outline on said dial and formed of elongated rectilinear neon lamp tubes, said tubes being disposed along substantially radial diverging lines relative to the center of said outline, a member making one rotation each minute, a switch, means on said member for closing said switch at each rotation of said member, a rotatable cylinder having sixty cams thereon of different lengths extending circumferentially thereon, an electrical circuit including said switch, means for quickly and intermittently moving said cylinder one-sixtieth of a revolution, actuating means for said last mentioned means operated by the closing of said circuit by said switch, a lever engaging each of said cams and operated thereby, an oscillatable sealed switch for each of said levers and connected thereto to be operated by said cam through said lever, conductors connected to each of said switches and to each oi said neon lamp tubes whereby electrical contacts moving in engagement with each other are avoided and sparking eliminated.

2. The structure set forth in claim l, twelve members constituting hour indicators spaced about said outline and formed of elongated rectilinear neon lamp tubes, the same also extending substantially radially, a second cylinder, means rotating said second cylinder from said Erst mentioned cylinder and at one-twelfth the speed of said rst mentioned cylinder, twelve cams extending circumferentially on said second cylinder and of different lengths, a lever engaging each of said last mentioned cams, an oscillatable sealed switch connected to each of said last mentioned levers to be operated thereby and conductors connected to each of said last mentioned switches and connected to each of said twelve hour indicators.

3. A clock for public use having in combination, a dial of large area, elongated rectilinear neon electric lamp tubes constituting minute indicators spaced about a certain outline on said dial, said tubes being disposed along substantially radial diverging lines relative to the center of said outline, a rotatable member making one rotation each minute, a rotatable cylinder having sixty cams thereon of different lengths extending circumferentially thereon, means actuated by said rotatable member for very quickly rotating said cylinder one-sixtieth of a revolution for each rotation of said rotatable member, a lever engaging each of said cams and operated thereby, a sealed switch for each of said levers and connected thereto to be operated by the cams operating said lever, conductors connected to each of said switches and to each of said neon lamp tubes whereby electrical contacts moving in engagement with each other are avoided, sparking is eliminated and whereby said tubes will be successively lighted and maintained in lighted condition through one revolution of said cylinder.

4. The structure set forth in claim 3, twelve elongated rectilinear neon lamp tubes equally spaced about said outline and extending substantially radially from the center thereof and constituting hour indicators, a second cylinder, means for rotating said second cylinder onetwelfth the speed of said first mentioned cylinder, twelve cams extending circumferentially on said second cylinder and of different lengths, a lever engaging each of said last mentioned cams to be operated thereby, a sealed switch connected 10 to each of said last mentioned levers to be operated thereby and conductors extending to each of said last mentioned switches and connected to each of said twelve hour indicators whereby electrical contacts moving in engagement with each other to illuminate said hour indicators are avoided, sparking thus eliminated and whereby said hour indicators Will be successively illuminated and maintained illuminated through one revolution of said second cylinder.

THOMAS C. ADAMS. 

